Fidel Castro asks US lawmakers how to improve ties

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., front, reacts during a news conference in Havana, Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Cuba's President Raul Castro met Monday with six visiting members of the Congressional Black Caucus for more than four hours, his first face-to-face discussions with U.S. leaders since he became Cuba's president last year. Back from left to right; Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D- MO., Rep. Bobby Rush, D- IL. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
— AP

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., front, reacts during a news conference in Havana, Tuesday, April 7, 2009. Cuba's President Raul Castro met Monday with six visiting members of the Congressional Black Caucus for more than four hours, his first face-to-face discussions with U.S. leaders since he became Cuba's president last year. Back from left to right; Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D- MO., Rep. Bobby Rush, D- IL. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
/ AP

HAVANA 
A "very healthy, very energetic" Fidel Castro asked visiting Congressional Black Caucus members what Cuba could do to help President Barack Obama improve bilateral relations during his first meeting with U.S. officials since falling ill in 2006.

Caucus leader Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, said the ailing former Cuban president talked for nearly two hours with her and two other delegation members on Tuesday in a meeting seen as signaling Cuba's willingness to discuss better relations with the United States.

"We believe it is time to open dialogue and discussion with Cuba," Lee told a news conference in Washington upon the caucus members' return. "Cubans do want dialogue. They do want talks. They do want normal relations."

Lee said the group would present its findings to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Democrat from California, and White House and State Department officials.

California Democratic Rep. Laura Richardson, who also met Fidel with Illinois Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush, said Castro "looked directly into our eyes" and asked how Cuba could help Obama in his efforts to change the course of U.S. foreign policy.

Richardson said she had the impression that 82-year-old Fidel wants to see changes in U.S.-Cuba relations in his lifetime.

Lee said she found Castro "very healthy, very energetic, very clear thinking."

The surprise encounter came a day after the full delegation of six representatives spent more than four hours talking privately with Cuban President Raul Castro, his first encounter with U.S. officials since formally replacing his brother as head of state nearly 14 months ago.

And it comes as Washington discusses whether to warm up long-chilly relations with Cuba. Obama has ordered an assessment of U.S. policy toward the communist nation and some members of Congress are pushing to lift a ban on Americans visiting the island.

Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006 and it was his first meeting in several years with American officials. Although he gave up his presidential duties after becoming ill, he remains an influential force in Cuba.

In a column posted on a government Web site late Tuesday night, Castro wrote about his meeting with the three U.S. representatives, saying Cuban leaders "weren't aggressors, nor did we threaten the United States."

"Cuba did not have any alternative but to take the initiative," he said in explaining why he sought the lawmakers' advice on what his country could do to help Obama improve bilateral relations.

He did not spell out exactly what they recommended, but applauded "the interest and depth with which they expounded on their points of view and the quality of their simple and profound words."

"The three reflected transparency, pride in their work, their organization and the fight for their country," Castro wrote. "It's evident that they know Obama and have confidence and security in, and sympathy for him."

Among the last U.S. officials to see him face-to-face were state governors visiting the island separately on farm trade missions in 2005: Dave Heineman of Nebraska and Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana.